(r)- selective amination

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method for the enzymatic synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-amines of general formula [1][c], from the corresponding ketones of general formula [1][a], by using novel transaminases. These novel transaminases are selected from two different groups: either from a group of some 20 proteins with sequences as specified herein, or from a group of proteins having transaminase activity and isolated from a microorganism selected from the group of organisms consisting of  Rahnella aquatilis, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Ochrobactrum tritici, Sinorhizobium morelense, Curtobacterium pusilllum, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum, Pseudomonas citronellolis, Yersinia kristensenii, Achromobacter spanius, Achromobacter insolitus, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense, Mycobacterium sacrum, Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans, Burkholderia  sp.,  Burkholderia tropica, Cosmospora episphaeria , and  Fusarium oxysporum .

The present invention relates to a method for the (R)-selective amination of ketones and to enzymes for use in this method.

A considerable number of pharmaceutically active compounds (existing and under development) contain a chiral amine functionality which can not be directly derived synthetically from natural amino acids. According to pharmaceutical manufacturers, asymmetric synthesis of amines from ketones is one of the most desirable reactions for the future (Constable et al., Green Chem. 2007, 9, 411). Furthermore, it is a goal of the pharmaceutical manufacturers to rely as much as possible on “green” routes in the synthesis of their pharmaceutically active compounds. Biocatalytic conversions are therefore preferred.

An attractive route for biocatalytic production of chiral amines is stereoselective transamination starting from a ketone and an amine donor, according to reaction [1]:

The required stereoselective enzymes (interchangeably called transaminases, aminotransferases or aminopherases) have been reported for instance the (S)-selective w-transaminase from Vibrio fluvialis (Shin et al., Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2003, 61, 463), although (S)-selective enzymes are by far more abundant than (R)-selective enzymes.

Stereoselective transaminases have for example been described in the European patent publications EP1038953 and EP987332.

EP1038953 relates to a DNA encoding a transaminase capable of synthesizing optically active (R)-α-methylbenzylamine in the presence of sec-butylamine.

EP987332 relates in particular to a transaminase from a Mycobacterium aurum species which can catalyze the stereoselective transamination of acetophenone and sec-butylamine to an enantiomerically enriched (R)-α-methylbenzylamine and 2-butanone. The same transaminase was also used for the racemic resolution or (RS)-α-methylbenzylamine to obtain enantiomerically enriched (S)-α-methylbenzylamine as well as the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched D-alanine and D-serine.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,592 relates to a DNA from an Arthrobacter species encoding a recombinant transaminase, which can catalyze the (R)-stereoselective transamination of several ketones in the presence of an amino donor to produce enantiomerically enriched (R)-amines.

There is a need for further stereoselective transaminases in order to be able to apply stereoselective transamination reactions to a wider spectrum of compounds.

The present invention relates to a method for the enzymatic synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-amines of general formula [1][c] from the corresponding ketones of the general formula [1][a] by using novel transaminases.

These novel transaminases are selected from the group consisting of

-   -   a) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 1;     -   b) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 3;     -   c) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 5;     -   d) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 7;     -   e) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 9;     -   f) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 11;     -   g) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 13;     -   h) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 15;     -   i) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 17;     -   j) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 19;     -   k) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 21;     -   l) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 23;     -   m) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 25;     -   n) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 30;     -   o) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 33;     -   p) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 35;     -   q) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 38;     -   r) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 40;     -   s) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 43;     -   t) a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid         sequence of SEQ ID No. 46 and     -   u) a protein having transaminase activity and isolated from a         microorganism selected from the group of organisms consisting of         Rahnella aquatilis, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Ochrobactrum tritici,         Sinorhizobium morelense, Curtobacterium pusilllum, Paecilomyces         lilacinus, Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium         trichothecenolyticum, Pseudomonas citronellolis, Yersinia         kristensenii, Achromobacter spanius, Achromobacter insolitus,         Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense,         Mycobacterium sacrum, Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans,         Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica, Cosmospora episphaeria,         and Fusarium oxysporum.

According to the present invention it has been found, in sequence alignment studies using ClustalW2 multiple sequence alignment at default settings (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/clustalw2, Larkin et al., Bioinformatics 2007, 23, 2947), that the transaminases of SEQ ID No. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25 according to this invention vary over a broad range of identity percentage with the wild-type amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1 of the transaminase. Even at an identity percentage of about 30% to SEQ ID No. 1 still very suitable transaminases are being found according to the present invention.

The inventors have found, however, that the transaminases as can be used in the present invention (and the mutants derived there from) all have in common, that they have at least 37 conserved amino acids, namely A32, A44, D50, G52, D57, Y60, V65, G68, F71, L73, R79, V106, V116, R122, G123, P145, P177, K180, N181, W183, D185, E213, G216, N218, P230, L235, G237, R240, V243, E269, A276, G277, G278, P281, G296, W307, and Y321, when being compared to the wild-type amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1 at the positions corresponding to the above positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1.

Amino acid residues of wild-type or mutated protein sequences corresponding to positions of the amino acid residues in the wild-type amino acid sequence of the transaminase of SEQ ID No. 1 can be identified by performing ClustalW2 multiple sequence alignments at default settings. Amino acid residues, which are placed in the same column as an amino acid residue of the transaminase sequence as given in SEQ ID No. 1 in such alignments, are defined to be positions corresponding to this respective amino acid residue of the transaminase sequence of SEQ ID No. 1.

Samples of each of the microorganisms Rahnella aquatilis, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Ochrobactrum tritici, Sinorhizobium morelense, Curtobacterium pusilllum, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum, Pseudomonas citronellolis, Yersinia kristensenii, Achromobacter spanius, Achromobacter insolitus, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense, Mycobacterium sacrum, Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans, Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica, Cosmospora episphaeria, and Fusarium oxysporum were deposited at the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ) at Braunschweig, Germany on Jul. 13, 2010.

In the above chemical structures [1][a] and [1][c] R₁ and R₂ are different and can be independently linear or branched aliphatic, hetero-aliphatic, aromatic, hetero-aromatic or form a cyclic structure.

More in particular, R₁ and R₂ are different and R₁ and R₂ independently contain 1 to 30 carbon atoms and R₁ and R₂ are independently substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted branched aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted cyclic aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic aliphatic, containing at least one oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen atom; substituted or unsubstituted aromatic; substituted or unsubstituted hetero-aromatic containing at least one sulfur, oxygen or nitrogen atom; or together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic structure or heterocyclic structure, containing at least one oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen atom; wherein the substituents are selected from, but not limited to, the group consisting of a halogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, hydroxyl group, methoxy group, monofluoromethyl, difluoromethyl and trifluoromethyl group.

Preferably the final concentration of the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine product lies between 1 and 50 weight % of the reaction mixture. Most preferably final concentration of the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine product lies between 5 and 35 weight % of the reaction mixture.

A process according to this invention can be carried out in a aqueous reaction mixture with all reactions dissolved or in slurries with some of the reactants at least partially dissolved and some of the reactions at least partially as solid material.

The use of a non water-miscible solvent such as an organic solvent forming a second liquid phase next to the buffered aqueous phase containing a transaminase can be advantageous in transaminase reactions over purely aqueous or aqueous slurry reactions, because the organic solvent can act as a reservoir for poorly water-soluble ketones and amino donors. It can increase the mass transfer rate for the dissolution of poorly water-soluble ketones or amino donors into the transaminase containing aqueous phase compared to slurry reactions (solid-aqueous). Further it can reduce potential substrate or product inhibition by extractive removal of these potential inhibitors. Furthermore such extractive removal of at least one of the transaminase reaction products can pull the equilibrium of the transaminase reaction in the aqueous phase to the products side, thereby improving the yield and/or the efficiency of the transaminase catalysed reaction.

A process according to this invention can be carried out in a reaction mixture comprising an aqueous phase and second organic phase. In case a reaction mixture comprising an aqueous phase and second organic phase is used, the reaction mixture preferably comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 100 and 0.01. More preferably the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 20 and 0.1. Most preferably the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 20 and 1.

Suitable organic solvents can for instance be selected from the group of, but are not restricted to cyclohexanone, dichloromethane, pentane, heptane, MTBE (methyl-tert-butylether), toluene, 2-methyl-tetrahydrofurane, butylacetate and ethylacetate.

The transaminase a) through m) above according to the present invention have been identified in database searches in public nucleotide and polypeptide databases like EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ, Swiss-Prot/UniProtKB (released on Jun. 15, 2010), RefSeq or Non-redundant via the EMBL-EBI (http://www.ebi.ac.uk) or NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) servers annotated as “hypothetical protein” with highest similarity to branched chain L-amino acid aminotransferases or 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyases (EC4.1.3.38) belonging to Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate Dependent Enzymes class IV (PLPDE_IV) superfamily. Functional expression and activity have so far not been reported to support the annotation.

Surprisingly, it has been found that transaminase a) through m) are in fact (R)-selective ω-transaminases instead of (S)-selective amino acid aminotransferases as will be described below. Further the transaminases a) through m) differ in substrate spectrum than the (R)-transaminases described in EP1038953, EP987332 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,592.

The transaminases a) through t) above according to the present invention have been characterized by their activity and enantioselectivity in one or more of the following ω-transaminase conversions:

(i) Racemic Resolution of (RS)-α-Methylbenzylamine.

The enantioselectivity of enzymes in general and transaminases specifically can be determined in a racemic resolution of a racemic mixture of a substrate comprising a chiral center. According to this invention an (R)-selective transaminase is an enzyme which preferentially transaminates (R)-α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) from racemic MBA in the presence of a ketone substrate such as pyruvic acid. An (R)-transaminase according to this invention is an enzyme which preferentially converts the (R)- over (S)-enantiomer of α-methylbenzylamine in the presence of pyruvic acid resulting in the enrichment of the remaining (S)-enantiomer with an enantiomeric excess (e.e.) of at least 10%. Preferably the resulting e.e. of (S)-MBA is at least 50%. More preferably the e.e. is at least 60%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 70%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 80%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 90%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 95%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 96%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 97%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 98%. Most preferably the e.e. is at least 99%.

Typically 80 mM of racemic α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) are reacted with 40 mM sodium pyruvate in 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) buffer pH 7.0 containing 0.1 mM pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) at 28° C. for 20 h in the presence of a transaminase. The concentrations and enantiomeric excesses of (R)- and/or (S)-MBA can for instance be determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas chromatography (GC) with suitable chiral column materials. The formulation of the (R)-transaminase is not critical; it can be added as (partially) purified enzyme, cell-free extract (CFE) or crude cell extract; liquid, powder or immobilized form; permeabilised cells, whole cells or culture broth containing cells comprising the transaminase or in any other form.

(ii) Activity and Selectivity on the Pure Enantiomers of α-Methylbenzylamine.

The enantioselectivity of an enzyme is also characterized by its specific activities towards the individual enantiomers of a specific substrate. These can be determined in separate activity assays with the individual enantiopure forms of the substrate. According to this invention the specific transaminase activities towards the two enantiomers of α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) are a measure for the (R)-selectivity of a transaminase. In the context of this invention the ratio of the specific activities on (R)-MBA over the specific activities on (S)-MBA is defined as the Transaminase Enantioselectivity Value (TEV). An (R)-selective transaminase is defined as a transaminase with a TEV value of >1. A good (R)-selectivity of a transaminase is defined as a specific activity ratio on (R)- over (S)-MBA of TEV 10. A high (R)-selectivity of a transaminase is defined as a specific activity ratio on (R)- over (S)-MBA of TEV ≧100.

The specific transaminase activities on (R)- and (S)-MBA are separately determined using a spectrophotometric assay. In a final reaction volume of 1 ml 50 μl of a suitable dilution of a transaminase in liquid form is mixed in a cuvette with 12.5 mM (R)- or (S)-MBA and 5 mM sodium pyruvate in the presence of 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP. The reactions are started by addition of 10 μl of 0.5 M sodium pyruvate (in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5, 0.1 mM PLP) to the other assay components, after pre-incubation at 30° C. for 5 min. After addition of sodium pyruvate the absorption at 300 nm is recorded and the transaminase activity in the samples is calculated according to the law of Lambert-Beer using the molar extinction coefficient for acetophenone at 300 nm of ε=0.28 cm²/μmol. One unit (U) of transaminase activity is defined as 1 μmol of acetophenone formed from 12.5 mM (R)-MBA or (S)-MBA and 5 mM sodium pyruvate at 30° C. in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP per minute. The specific transaminase activities of the CFEs (U/mg total CFE protein) are calculated by dividing the volumetric activity values (U/ml CFE) by the total protein concentration in the liquid transaminase sample. The Transaminase Enantioselectivity Value (TEV) is calculated by dividing the volumetric or specific activity on (R)-MBA by the volumetric or specific activity, respectively, on (S)-MBA.

Preferably the (R)-transaminase has a TEV of at least 1, more preferably the (R)-transaminase has a TEV of at least 10, even more preferably the (R)-transaminase has a TEV of at least 100.

(iii) Synthesis of Enantiomerically Enriched (R)-Amines from the Corresponding Ketones and Suitable Amino Donors Such as Benzylamine or α-Methylbenzylamine.

The typical desired outcome of a reaction catalysed by an (R)-selective transaminase is the formation of an enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine according to formula 1 [c] from an amino donor and a ketone substrate. Suitable amino donors for (R)-selective transaminase reactions comprise for instance racemic or (R)-MBA, racemic or (R)-1-aminoindan, racemic or (R)-1-aminotetralin, racemic or D-alanine, isopropylamine, benzylamine, racemic or (R)-sec-butylamine (2-aminobutane), β-alanine or racemic or D-3-aminobutyric acid.

Generally, with a particular transaminase, certain amino donors are preferred. Surprisingly, we have found that with the transaminase of SEQ ID No. 1, SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 7, SEQ ID No. 9, SEQ ID No. 13, SEQ ID No. 15, SEQ ID No. 17, SEQ ID No. 21, SEQ NO ID 23, and SEQ ID No. 43 the preferred amino donors are racemic or (R)-MBA or racemic or (R)-sec-butylamine.

Typically 70 mM of amino donor is reacted with 70 mM of ketone substrate in the presence of an (R)-transaminase in an aqueous reaction mixture buffered with 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) at pH 7.5 at 28° C. Optionally water miscible or immiscible solvents can be used to solubilise amino donor or ketone substrate. An (R)-selective transaminase according to this invention will exhibit at least low conversion of at least 0.5% to the desired enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine starting from equimolar amounts of amino donor and ketone substrate with the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine having an enantiomeric excess of at least 50% after over night reaction at 28° C. The form of the (R)-transaminase is not critical; it can be added as (partially) purified enzyme, cell-free extract or crude cell extract; liquid, powder or immobilized form; permeabilised cells, whole cells or culture broth containing cells comprising the transaminase or in any other form.

It is known to the person skilled in the art that transaminase reactions are reversible reactions and the degree of conversion is influenced by the equilibrium of the specific substrates and products. Further it is known to the person skilled in the art that the degree of substrate conversion at equimolar amino donor and ketone substrate concentrations can be increased by for instance in situ product removal by evaporation of one of the reaction products or using resins, or addition of enzymes which further convert one of the reaction products such as pyruvate decarboxylase or lactate dehydrogenase. Further it is known that the degree of conversion of ketone substrate 1[a] to amine product 1 [c] can be increased by an excess of amino donor 1[b].

Preferably the produced enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine has an e.e. of at least 50%. More preferably the e.e. is at least 60%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 70%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 80%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 90%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 95%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 96%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 97%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 98%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 99%. Most preferably the produced enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine has an e.e. of larger than 99%.

In the present application “a protein having at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of (a reference sequence)” means that such protein is a homologue of the respective reference sequence having an amino acid sequence, which is for at least 90% identical to the amino acid sequence of the reference sequence as determined in sequence alignments performed with sequence alignment tools such as BLASTP (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast), ClustalW (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/clustalw2) or Align Plus 5 (Scientific & Educational Software, Cary, N.C., USA).

The term “homologue” is used herein in particular for polynucleotides or polypeptides having a sequence identity of at least 60%, preferably at least 65%, more preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, in particular at least 85%, more in particular at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99%. The term homologue is also meant to include nucleic acid sequences (polynucleotide sequences) which differ from another nucleic acid sequence due to the degeneracy of the genetic code and encode the same polypeptide sequence.

Sequence identity or similarity is herein defined as a relationship between two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more nucleic acid sequences, as determined by comparing the sequences. Usually, sequence identities or similarities are compared over the whole length of the sequences, but may however also be compared only for a part of the sequences aligning with each other. In the art, “identity” or “similarity” also means the degree of sequence relatedness between polypeptide sequences or nucleic acid sequences, as the case may be, as determined by the match between such sequences. Preferred methods to determine identity or similarity are designed to give the largest match between the sequences tested. In context of this invention a preferred computer program method to determine identity and similarity between two sequences includes BLASTP and BLASTN (Altschul, S. F. et al., J. Mol. Biol. 1990, 215, 403-410, publicly available from NCBI and other sources (BLAST Manual, Altschul, S. et al., NCBI NLM NIH, Bethesda, Md., USA). Preferred parameters for polypeptide sequence comparison using BLASTP are gap open 10.0, gap extend 0.5, Blosum 62 matrix. Preferred parameters for nucleic acid sequence comparison using BLASTN are gap open 10.0, gap extend 0.5, DNA full matrix (DNA identity matrix).

The transaminase according to this invention may be used in any form. For example, the transaminase may be used—for example in the form of a dispersion, a solution or in immobilized form—as crude enzyme, as a commercially available enzyme, as an enzyme further purified from a commercially available preparation, as an enzyme obtained from its source by a combination of known purification methods, in whole (optionally permeabilized and/or immobilized) cells that naturally or through genetic modification possess the required tranasminase activity, or in a lysate of cells with such activity.

A cell comprising a transaminase in a method of the invention can be constructed using molecular biological techniques, which are known in the art per se. For instance, if a transaminase is to be produced in a heterologous system, such techniques can be used to provide a vector which comprises a gene encoding a transaminase.

A gene encoding a polypeptide with transaminase activity can be adapted to the preferred codon usage of the host cell used for the production of the polypeptide to improve expression level of the polypeptide. A suitable method to achieve such an adaptation is for instance Codon-Pair-Optimization as described in WO08000632.

A vector comprising such a gene can comprise one or more regulatory elements, e.g. one or more promoters, which may be operably linked to a gene encoding a transaminase. Examples of such vectors comprise plasmids like pBAD/Myc-His C, pBAD-DEST49, pET-DEST42 (all Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA), plasmids of the pET series for instance pET-26b(+) (Novagen, Nottingham, UK) or pMS47008 (Balzer et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 1992, 20 (8): 1851-1858).

As used herein, the term “operably linked” refers to a linkage of polynucleotide elements (or coding sequences or nucleic acid sequence) in a functional relationship. A nucleic acid sequence is “operably linked” when it is placed into a functional relationship with another nucleic acid sequence. For instance, a promoter or enhancer is operably linked to a coding sequence if it affects the transcription of the coding sequence.

As used herein, the term “promoter” refers to a nucleic acid fragment that functions to control the transcription of one or more genes, located upstream with respect to the direction of transcription of the transcription initiation site of the gene, and is structurally identified by the presence of a binding site for DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, transcription initiation sites and any other DNA sequences, including, but not limited to transcription factor binding sites, repressor and activator protein binding sites, and any other sequences of nucleotides known to one of skilled in the art to act directly or indirectly to regulate the amount of transcription from the promoter. A “constitutive” promoter is a promoter that is active under most environmental and developmental conditions. An “inducible” promoter is a promoter that is active under environmental or developmental regulation. The term “homologous” when used to indicate the relation between a given (recombinant) nucleic acid or polypeptide molecule and a given host organism or host cell, is understood to mean that in nature the nucleic acid or polypeptide molecule is produced by a host cell or organisms of the same species, preferably of the same variety or strain.

The promoter that could be used to achieve the expression of the nucleotide sequences coding for an enzyme for use in a method of the invention, in particular a transaminase, such as described herein above may be native to the nucleotide sequence coding for the enzyme to be expressed, or may be heterologous to the nucleotide sequence (coding sequence) to which it is operably linked. Preferably, the promoter is homologous, i.e. endogenous to the host cell.

If a heterologous promoter (to the nucleotide sequence encoding for the enzyme of interest) is used, the heterologous promoter is preferably capable of producing a higher steady state level of the transcript comprising the coding sequence (or is capable of producing more transcript molecules, i.e. mRNA molecules, per unit of time) than is the promoter that is native to the coding sequence. Suitable promoters in this context include both constitutive and inducible natural promoters as well as engineered promoters, which are well known to the person skilled in the art.

A “strong constitutive promoter” is one which causes mRNAs to be initiated at high frequency compared to a native host cell.

Examples of such strong constitutive promoters in Gram-positive micro-organisms include SP01-26, SP01-15, veg, pyc (pyruvate carboxylase promoter), and amyE.

Examples of inducible promoters in Gram-positive micro-organisms include, the IPTG inducible Pspac promoter, the xylose inducible PxylA promoter.

Examples of constitutive and inducible promoters in Gram-negative microorganisms include, but are not limited to tac, tet, trp-tet, lpp, lac, lpp-lac, laclq, T7, T5, T3, gal, trc, ara (P_(BAD)), SP6, λ-P_(R), and λ-P_(L).

Examples of constitutive and inducible promoters in eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeasts and fungi include, but are not limited to, the AOX-, GAP-, and TEF-promoter.

The term “heterologous” when used with respect to a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) or protein refers to a nucleic acid or protein that does not occur naturally as part of the organism, cell, genome or DNA or RNA sequence in which it is present, or that is found in a cell or location or locations in the genome or DNA or RNA sequence that differ from that in which it is found in nature. Heterologous nucleic acids or proteins are not endogenous to the cell into which it is introduced, but has been obtained from another cell or synthetically or recombinantly produced. Generally, though not necessarily, such nucleic acids encode proteins that are not normally produced by the cell in which the DNA is transcribed or expressed. Similarly exogenous RNA encodes for proteins not normally expressed in the cell in which the exogenous RNA is present. Heterologous nucleic acids and proteins may also be referred to as foreign nucleic acids or proteins. Any nucleic acid or protein that one of skill in the art would recognize as heterologous or foreign to the cell in which it is expressed is herein encompassed by the term heterologous nucleic acid or protein.

The host cell or micro-organism may in particular be selected from the group of genera consisting of Aspergillus, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, Escherichia, Saccharomyces, Pseudomonas, Gluconobacter, Penicillium, and Pichia. In particular, the host strain and, thus, host cell suitable for the production of a transminase may be selected from the group of Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Pichia pastoris host cells.

The proteins having transaminase activity mentioned under n) above are produced by microorganisms present in soil samples collected in the Netherlands and Germany. These microorganisms were enriched from these soil samples in a culture medium using an (R)-amine as the sole nitrogen source for the microorganism for growth. To this end the following six structurally diverse (R)-amines were used as only nitrogen source: (R)-2-aminobutane, (R)-3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane, (R)-α-methylbenzylamine, (R)-α-ethylbenzylamine, (R)-1-aminoindan and (R)-1-aminotetralin.

Subsequent to enrichment in liquid medium, the microorganisms were isolated on agar plates containing the respective (R)-amine as sole nitrogen source, pure cultures were grown in the respective liquid enrichment medium again and used for transaminase reactions in whole cell systems. The resulting conversions and enantiomeric excesses of the produced (R)-amines were monitored by HPLC or GC analysis.

The typical desired outcome of a reaction catalysed by an (R)-selective transaminase is the formation of an enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine according to formula 1 [c] from an amino donor and a ketone substrate. Suitable amino donors for (R)-selective transaminase reactions comprise for instance racemic or (R)-MBA, racemic or (R)-1-aminoindan, racemic or (R)-1-aminotetralin, racemic or D-alanine, isopropylamine, benzylamine, racemic or (R)-sec-butylamine (2-aminobutane), β-alanine or racemic or D-3-aminobutyric acid.

Typically 80 mM of amino donor is reacted with 40 mM of ketone substrate in the presence of an (R)-transaminase in an aqueous reaction mixture buffered with 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) at pH 7.5 at 28° C. Preferably at least 100 mM of ketone substrate are used in the presence of an (R)-transaminase in an aqueous reaction mixture buffered with 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) at pH 7.5 at 28° C. Optionally water miscible or immiscible solvents can be used to solubilise amino donor or ketone substrate. An (R)-selective transaminase according to this invention will exhibit at least low conversion of 0.5% to the desired enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine starting from equimolar amounts of amino donor and ketone substrate with the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine having an enantiomeric excess of at least 50% after over night reaction at 28° C.

The form of the (R)-transaminase is not critical; it can be added as (partially) purified enzyme, cell-free extract or crude cell extract; liquid, powder or immobilized form; permeabilised cells, whole cells or culture broth containing cells comprising the transaminase or in any other form.

It is known to the person skilled in the art that transaminase reactions are reversible reactions and the degree of conversion is influenced by the equilibrium of the specific substrates and products. Further it is known to the person skilled in the art that the degree of substrate conversion at equimolar amino donor and ketone substrate concentrations can be increased by for instance in situ product removal by evaporation of one of the reaction products or using resins, or addition of enzymes which further convert one of the reaction products such as pyruvate decarboxylase or lactate dehydrogenase.

Preferably the produced enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine has an e.e. of at least 50%. More preferably the e.e. is at least 60%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 70%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 80%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 90%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 95%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 96%. Even more preferably the e.e. is at least 97%. Most preferably the produced enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine has an e.e. of at least 99%.

The final result was a collection of 31 microorganisms, which were characterized as shown in table 1.

TABLE 1 The deposits at German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ) at Braunschweig, Germany were made on Jul. 13, 2010 Code Microorganism (scientific name) DSMZ deposition number 3Na Rahnella aquatilis DSM 23797 3Kb Rahnella aquatilis not applicable 3Ba Ochrobactrum anthropi not applicable 3Db Ochrobactrum anthropi DSM 23793 3H1 Sinorhizobium morelense DSM 23794 5BaB Curtobacterium pusillum DSM 23787 5BaS Paecilomyces lilacinus DSM 23771 2A2 Microbacterium ginsengisoli not applicable 2Ca Microbacterium ginsengisoli not applicable 2Cb Ochrobactrum anthropi not applicable 2M1 Pseudomonas citronellolis DSM 23795 2Da Yersinia kristensenii DSM 23792 2K1 Ochrobactrum anthropi not applicable 6Ab Ochrobactrum tritici DSM 23786 6Bb Mycobacterium fortuitum DSM 23789 6I Achromobacter spanius DSM 23791 6F Achromobacter spanius not applicable 1Ea Achromobacter insolitus DSM 23790 1Ia Mycobacterium frederiksbergense DSM 23798 1Ib Mycobacterium sacrum DSM 23785 1Eb Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans not applicable 1A2 Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans not applicable 1Nb Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans DSM 23796 1Ja Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans not applicable 1A1 Microbacterium ginsengisoli DSM 23784 4D1 Burkholderia sp. not applicable 4F1 Burkholderia tropica DSM 23799 4Bd Cosmospora episphaeria DSM 23772 4I Rahnella aquatilis not applicable 4Ba Fusarium oxysporum DSM 23770 4Bc Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum DSM 23788

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-aminotetralin from tetralon preferably the microorganism Sinorhizobium morelense, Rahnella aquatilis or Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. More preferably the microorganism Rahnella aquatilis or Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species. Most preferably the microorganism Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used.

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-aminoindan from indanon preferably the microorganism Paecilomyces lilacinus or Curtobacterium pusillum or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. Most preferably the microorganism Curtobacterium pusillum or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used.

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-α-ethylbenzylamine from propiophenone preferably the microorganism Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Yersinia kristensenii, Pseudomonas citronellolis or Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. More preferably the microorganism Yersinia kristensenii, Pseudomonas citronellolis or Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. Even more preferably the microorganism Pseudomonas citronellolis or Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. Most preferably the microorganism Ochrobactrum anthropi or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used.

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-α-methylbenzylamine from acetophenone preferably the microorganism Mycobacterium fortuitum, Ochrobactrum tritici or Achromobacter spanius or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. More preferably the microorganism Ochrobactrum tritici or Achromobacter spanius or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. Most preferably the microorganism Achromobacter spanius or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used.

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane from 3,3-dimethyl-2-butanone preferably a microorganism of the genus Mycobacterium or a transaminase obtainable from this genus is used. More preferably a microorganism from the group of Mycobacterium frederiksbergense, Mycobacterium sacrum or Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans, or a transaminase obtainable from one of these species, respectively, is used. Even more preferably the microorganism Microbacterium ginsengisoli or Achromobacter insolitus or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species is used. Most preferably the microorganism Achromobacter insolitus or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used.

For the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched (R)-2-aminobutane from 2-butanone preferably a microorganism of the genus Burkholderia or a transaminase obtainable from this genus is used. More preferably a microorganism from the group of Cosmospora episphaeria or Fusarium oxysporum or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species, respectively, is used. Even more preferably the microorganism Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum or a transaminase obtainable from this species is used. Most preferably a microorganism from the group of Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica or Rahnella aquatilis, or a transaminase obtainable from any of these species, respectively, is used.

The re-isolation of the individual microorganisms from the pools deposited can be achieved by plating of suitable dilutions of the pooled microorganisms and re-streaking on the selective enrichment medium containing the respective (R)-amine, on which they have been enriched originally. Repeated re-streaking on the respective (R)-amine containing selective enrichment medium is carried out until only colonies of uniform morphology are obtained. Subsequently 16S rRNA or D2-LSU rRNA sequencing is performed, e.g. by using the validated MicroSEQ® (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) system, to re-identify the individual microorganisms.

Transaminases obtainable from the strains in table 1 include enzymes derived from transaminase gene sequences of the strains in table 1. These gene sequences can be identified and isolated by various methods known to the person skilled in the art such as genome sequencing and sequence comparison with known transaminase sequences, DNA isolation and using probes with DNA sequences having a high degree of identity (at least 80%) to known transaminase genes, enzyme purification and enzyme sequencing, transformation of DNA derived from these strains in other host organisms and selection for growth on (R)-amines followed by DNA sequencing, or combinations of these approaches (Ausubel et al., eds., “Current protocols in molecular biology”, Green Publishing and Wiley Interscience, New York 1987).

Accordingly, the present invention also relates to a microorganism comprising an enzyme having (R)-transaminase activity from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).

According to a further embodiment the present invention relates to a microorganism comprising an enzyme having (R)-transaminase activity selected from the group consisting of Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] or a protein having at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% identity to any of these amino acid sequences.

According to a further embodiment the present invention relates to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).

According to a further embodiment the invention relates to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% sequence identity to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).

According to a further embodiment the invention relates to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity selected from the group consisting of Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] or a protein having at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% identity to any of these polypepetide sequences.

According to a further embodiment the present invention relates to a nucleic acid comprising a sequence encoding a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% sequence identity to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).

According to a further embodiment the present invention relates to a nucleic acid comprising a sequence encoding a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity selected from the group consisting of Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] or a protein having at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% identity to any of these polypepetide sequences.

Enzymes derived from gene sequences of the strains in table 1 also include enzymes with sequence identities of at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% which are obtained by mutagenesis of genes derived from the strains in table 1. Mutagenesis methods are known to the person skilled in the art and include gene synthesis as well as mutagenesis methods using mutagenic primers (Bloom & Arnold, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2009, 106, 9995).

EXAMPLES General Microbial Growth Media LB (Luria Bertani) Medium 10 g/l Bacto Tryptone (BD, Le Pont de Claix, France) 5 g/l Bacto Yeast Extract (BD, Le Pont de Claix, France) 5 g/l NaCl (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany)

15 g/l Bacto Agar (for solid media, BD, Le Pont de Claix, France)

The components were dissolved in demineralised water and if necessary the pH was adjusted to 7.0. The media were sterilized by autoclaving for 20 min at 121° C. For solid media agar was added before autoclaving. Antibiotics were added after the autoclaved medium had cooled down to 60° C.

Selective Enrichment Media (SEM) 10 g/l Difco Yeast Carbon Base (YCB, BD, Sparks, Md., USA)

55 mM glycerol (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) 10 mM pyruvic acid (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) 5 mM (R)-amine substrate

15 g/l Difco Agar Noble (BD, Le Pont de Claix, France)

A stock solution of YCB medium (100 g/l), 550 mM glycerol and 100 mM pyruvic acid was prepared in MilliQ water (Millipore, Billerica, Mass., USA) and sterilized by filtration through 0.22 μm sterile filters. Liquid enrichment media were prepared by adding an (R)-amine substrate selected from the group (R)-2-aminobutane, (R)-3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane, (R)-α-methylbenzylamine, (R)-α-ethylbenzylamine, (R)-1-aminoindan and (R)-1-aminotetralin to a 1:10 with sterile MilliQ water diluted stock solution of the enrichment medium. Solid enrichment media were prepared accordingly with autoclaved MilliQ water containing Agar Noble to obtain a final concentration of 15 g/l.

Antibiotics

LB medium containing carbenicillin or neomycine in final concentrations of 100 μg/ml was used to select and cultivate recombinant Escherichia coli strains containing expression vectors comprising [SEQ IDs No. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26] to maintain the plasmids. Carbenicllin and neomycine stock solutions (50 mg/ml) were sterilized by filtration through 0.22 μm sterile filters.

Molecular and Genetic Techniques

Standard genetic and molecular biology techniques are generally known in the art and have been previously described (Maniatis et al. 1982 “Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual”. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; Miller 1972 “Experiments in molecular genetics”, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor; Sambrook and Russell 2001 “Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual” (3rd edition), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; F. Ausubel et al, eds., “Current protocols in molecular biology”, Green Publishing and Wiley Interscience, New York 1987).

Plasmids and Strains

E. coli strains TOP10 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) was used for all cloning procedures. E. coli was also used for protein expression. For induction of gene expression L-arabinose was used at a final concentration of 0.02% (w/v).

Cloning of Target Genes

The target genes according to [SEQ IDs No. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26] were codon pair optimised according to a procedure described in WO08000632. attB sites were added to all genes upstream of the ribosomal binding site and start codon and downstream of the stop codon to facilitate cloning using the Gateway technology (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA). Synthetic genes were obtained from Geneart (Regensburg, Germany). The gene constructs were cloned into a pBAD/Myc-His C (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) derived expression vector using the Gateway technology (Invitrogen) via the introduced attB sites and pDONR201 (Invitrogen) as entry vector as described in the manufacturer's protocols (www.invitrogen.com). This way the pBAD expression vectors were obtained, respectively. The corresponding expression strains were obtained by transformation of chemically competent E. coli cells with the respective pBAD-expression vectors.

Identification of Plasmids

Plasmids carrying the different genes were identified by genetic, biochemical, and/or phenotypic means generally known in the art, such as resistance of transformants to antibiotics, PCR diagnostic analysis of transformant or purification of plasmid DNA, restriction analysis of the purified plasmid DNA or DNA sequence analysis.

Determination Protein Concentrations in Solution

The concentrations of proteins in solutions such as cell-free extracts (CFEs) were determined using a modified protein-dye binding method as described by Bradford in Anal. Biochem. 72: 248-254 (1976). Of each sample 50 μl in an appropriate dilution was incubated with 950 μl reagent (100 mg Brilliant Blue G250 dissolved in 46 ml ethanol and 100 ml 85% ortho-phosphoric acid, filled up to 1,000 ml with milli-Q water) for at least five minutes at room temperature. The absorption of each sample at a wavelength of 595 nm was measured in a Perkin Elmer Lambda20 or a Lambda35 UV/VIS spectrophotometer. Using a calibration line determined with solutions containing known concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA, ranging from 0.0125 mg/ml to 0.20 mg/ml) the protein concentration in the samples was calculated.

Analysis High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Analysis

Ketones and amines containing aromatic groups were analysed on a Prevail C18 15 cm column. For the separation and quantification of the enantiomers of α-methylbenzylamine, α-ethylbenzylamine, 2-aminotetralin a Crownpak Cr (+) column (Daicel) with post-column dervatisation of the amines using o-phtalaldehyde plus mercaptoethanol and fluorescence detection was used. For the separation and quantification of the enantiomers of 1-aminotetralin and 1-aminoindan a Prevail C18 15 cm plus Crownpak Cr (+) columns were used with post-column dervatisation of the amines using o-phtalaldehyde plus mercaptoethanol and fluorescence detection was used.

Gas Chromatography

Alkyl ketones and alkyl amines such as 2-butanone, 2-aminobutane, 3,3-dimethyl-butanone, and 3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane were analysed on a CP-Sil 8 CB column (Varian) for amines column using commercially available reference materials (Sigma-Aldrich). For the separation and quantification of the (R)- and (S)-alkyl amines a Chiralsil-CB column (Agilent) was used.

Example 1 Enrichment of Microorganisms on (R)-Amines as Only Nitrogen Source

Soil samples from various places in the Netherlands and Germany were suspended in 100 mM potassium phosphate (KR) buffer pH 7.0 and incubated with shaking at 180 rotations per minute (rpm) and 28° C. for 1 hour. The suspensions were filtered through Whatman filter paper. 100 μl of filtrate, each, was used to inoculate 100 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 10 ml SEM containing one of the six (R)-amines selected from the group (R)-2-aminobutane, (R)-3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane, (R)-α-methylbenzylamine, (R)-α-ethylbenzylamine, (R)-1-aminoindan and (R)-1-aminotetralin. The flasks were incubated with shaking on an orbitary shaker at 180 rpm and 28° C. When microbial growth was obtained in form of significant turibidity of the culture medium or “cell aggregates”, 100 μl of this culture medium was used to inoculate SEM containing 5 mM of the same (R)-amine. After two such passages 100 μl of a 1:100 dilution of the last culture medium was plated on SEM agar plates containing 5 mM of the corresponding (R)-amine. Additionally approximately 10 μl of the undiluted culture was streaked out on SEM agar plates containing 5 mM of the corresponding (R)-amine. The inoculated agar plates were incubated at 28° C. until growth was observed. Colonies with different morphology were restreaked on fresh SEM plates to separate different microbial species. The re-streaking was continued until pure cultures with uniform morphologies were obtained after incubation at 28° C. and storage at 4° C.

Selected micro-organisms were sent for MicroSEQ® (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) Identification to BaseClear (Leiden, The Netherlands). The bacterial or fungal 16S or D2-LSU rRNA sequences obtained were compared to the validated MicroSEQ® sequence database (at BaseClear, Leiden, The Netherlands) and in case no identity above 99% was obtained compared to the non-redundant (nr) nucleotide database using the BlastN algorithm on the NCBI Blast homepage (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/). An overview of the results of these sequence analyses is given in table 2.

TABLE 2 Identification of enrichment isolates by MicroSeq Identification % (R)-amine Isolate Genus species match 1-aminotetralin 3Na Rahnella aquatilis 99.8 1-aminotetralin 3Kb Rahnella aquatilis 99.8 1-aminotetralin 3Ba Ochrobactrum anthropi 100 1-aminotetralin 3Db Ochrobactrum anthropi 100 1-aminotetralin 3H1 Sinorhizobium morelense 100 1-aminoindan 5BaB Curtobacterium pusillum 100 1-aminoindan 5BaS Paecilomyces lilacinus 100 α- 2A2 Microbacterium ginsengisoli 99.8 ethylbenzylamine α- 2Ca Microbacterium ginsengisoli 99.8 ethylbenzylamine α- 2Cb Ochrobactrum anthropi 100 ethylbenzylamine α- 2M1 Pseudomonas citronellolis 99.0 ethylbenzylamine α- 2Da Yersinia kristensenii 99.1 ethylbenzylamine α- 2K1 Ochrobactrum anthropi 100 ethylbenzylamine α-methylbenzyl- 6Ab Ochrobactrum tritici 100 amine α-methylbenzyl- 6Bb Mycobacterium fortuitum 99.3 amine α-methylbenzyl- 6I Achromobacter spanius 100 amine α-methylbenzyl- 6F Achromobacter spanius 100 amine 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Ea Achromobacter insolitus 99.6 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Ia Mycobacterium frederiksbergense 99.4 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Ib Mycobacterium sacrum 99.4 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Eb Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans 100 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1A2 Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans 99.8 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Nb Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans 100 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1Ja Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans 100 aminobutane 3,3-dimethyl-2- 1A1 Microbacterium ginsengisoli 99.8 aminobutane 2-aminobutane 4D1 Burkholderia sp. 100 2-aminobutane 4F1 Burkholderia tropica 100 2-aminobutane 4Bd Cosmospora episphaeria 99.0 2-aminobutane 4I Rahnella aquatilis 99.8 2-aminobutane 4Ba Fusarium oxysporum 100 2-aminobutane 4Bc Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum 99.8

Example-2 Detection of (R)-Transaminase Activity in Enrichment Isolates

From the pure cultures of the enrichment isolates on SEM agar plates 25 ml liquid SEM cultures containing 5 mM of the respective (R)-amine, on which the microorganisms had been enriched on, were inoculated and cultivated on an orbitary shaker at 180 rotations per minute (rpm) and at 28° C. until the cultures turned turbid. Subsequently the cultures were transferred to 50 ml centrifuge tubes and centrifuged for 10 min at 50,000×g in JA-25.50 rotor in Beckman Avanti J-20×PI centrifuge (Beckman-Coulter, Woerden, The Netherlands). The cell pellets were resuspended in 2 ml 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) buffer pH 7.0 containing 0.1 mM pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP). The cell suspensions were used to determine (R)-transaminase activity using 40 mM of amino donor and ketone substrate. Cell suspensions of enrichment isolates 3 Kb, 3Na, 3Ba, 3 Db, and 3H1 were tested with 40 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine as amine donor and 1-tetralone as ketone substrate yielding acetophenone and 1-aminotetraline as products. Cell suspensions of enrichment isolates 5BaB and 5BaS were tested with 40 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine as amine donor and 1-aminoindane as ketone substrate yielding acetophenone and 1-aminoindane as products. Cell suspensions of enrichment isolates 2A2, 2Ca, 2Cb, 2M1, 2Da, and 2K1 were tested with 40 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine as amine donor and propiophenone as ketone substrate yielding acetophenone and α-ethylbenzylamine as products. Cell suspensions of enrichment isolates 5BaB and 5BaS were tested with 40 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine as amine donor and 1-aminoindane as ketone substrate yielding acetophenone and 1-aminoindane as products. Cell suspensions of enrichment isolates 6Ab, 6Bb, 6I, and 6F were tested with 40 mM benzylamine as amine donor and acetophenone as ketone substrate yielding benzaldehyde and α-methylbenzylamine as products. The concentrations and the enantiomeric excess (e.e.) of the formed amine products were determined by HPLC as described in the general part. The results of the HPLC analyses are summarised in table 3.

TABLE 3 Concentrations and enantiomeric excesses of (R)-amines produced by the enriched microorganisms from amino donors and ketone substrates. (R)-amine produced Isolate Amine product [g/l] e.e. (R) 1-aminotetralin 3Na 0.31 99 1-aminotetralin 3Kb 0.24 99.6 1-aminotetralin 3Ba 0.40 98 1-aminotetralin 3Db 0.41 99 1-aminotetralin 3H1 0.12 88 1-aminoindan 5BaB 0.17 99.8 1-aminoindan 5BaS 0.17 99.8 α-ethylbenzylamine 2A2 0.32 95 α-ethylbenzylamine 2Ca 0.29 98 α-ethylbenzylamine 2Cb 0.25 98 α-ethylbenzylamine 2M1 0.33 98 α-ethylbenzylamine 2Da 0.34 96 α-ethylbenzylamine 2K1 0.30 98 α-methylbenzylamine 6Ab 0.08 94 α-methylbenzylamine 6Bb 0.17 64 α-methylbenzylamine 6I 0.09 94 α-methylbenzylamine 6F 0.10 70

These results demonstrate the presence of transaminases with good to excellent (R)-selectivity in the enriched microorganisms.

Example 3 Expression of (R)-Transaminases from Public Databases

The codon pair optimised genes encoding the polypeptides of the putative transaminases as summarized in table 4 were cloned into a pBAD/Myc-His C derived expression vector (as described in EP1513946) using the Gateway technology (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's protocols (www.invitrogen.com) as described in the general part.

TABLE 4 Overview of the polypeptide, nucleotide sequnces, and accession numbers Polypeptide Nucleotide Protein (amino acid (codon-pair- accession sequence) optimised gene) number Plasmid name SEQ ID No. 1 SEQ ID No. 2 XP_001209325 pBAD-XP_001209325 SEQ ID No. 3 SEQ ID No. 4 XP_002564064 pBAD-XP_002564064 SEQ ID No. 5 SEQ ID No. 6 EEU44019 pBAD-EEU44019 SEQ ID No. 7 SEQ ID No. 8 XP_001402221 pBAD-XP_001402221 SEQ ID No. 9 SEQ ID No. 10 YP_761201 pBAD-YP_761201 SEQ ID No. 11 SEQ ID No. 12 YP_838940 pBAD-YP_838940 SEQ ID No. 13 SEQ ID No. 14 YP_955297 pBAD-YP_955297 SEQ ID No. 15 SEQ ID No. 16 EDI73966 pBAD-EDI73966 SEQ ID No. 17 SEQ ID No. 18 NP_085750 pBAD-NP_085750 SEQ ID No. 19 SEQ ID No. 20 EDH25885 pBAD-EDH25885 SEQ ID No. 21 SEQ ID No. 22 EBP64591 pBAD-EBP64591 SEQ ID No. 23 SEQ ID No. 24 ECU93014 pBAD-ECU93014 SEQ ID No. 25 SEQ ID No. 26 YP_366475 pBAD-YP_366475

Additionally codon-pair optimised synthetic genes encoding for the polypeptides L-threonine aldolase (LTA_SAV, accession number Q82N15) from Streptomyces avelmitilis (as negative control), and (R)-transaminases ABN35871 (Sequence 2 from U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,592) and AAN21261 (Sequence 1 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,752) were ordered and cloned as described above. After transformation of competent E. coli TOP10 cells and plating on selective LB agar plates containing 100 μg/ml antibiotic, the respective recombinant E. coli pBAD strains as given in table 4 were obtained. 5 ml LB precultures plus 50 μg/ml antibiotic preculturures were inocululated with from the respective agar plates and cultivated over night at 28° C. and 180 rpm on an orbitary shaker. From such precultures expression cultures were inoculated in Erlenmeyer flasks containing 50-100 ml LB plus 50 μg/ml antibiotic to a start cell density of OD₆₂₀=0.05. These cultures were incubated at 28° C. and 180 rpm on an orbitary shaker. In the middle of the exponential growth phase (OD₆₂₀ of about 0.6) the expression of the target genes was induced by the addition of 0.02% (w/v) L-arabinose to the culture flasks. After induction the cultivation was continued at 28° C. and 180 rpm on an orbitary shaker over night (about 20 h). Subsequently the cells were harvested by centrifugation at 5,000×g for 10 min at 4° C. The supernatant was discarded and the cells were resuspended and weighed. The cell pellets were resuspended in twice the volume of wet weight of ice-cold 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP. Cell-free extracts (CFEs) were obtained by sonification of the cell suspensions using a Sonics (Meyrin/Satigny, Switzerland) Vibra-Cell VCX130 sonifier (output 100%, 10 s on/10 s off, for 10 min) with cooling in an ice/acetone bath and centrifugation in an Eppendorf (Hamburg, Germany) 5415R centrifuge at 13,000×g and 4° C. for 30 min. The supernantants (=CFEs) were transferred to fresh tubes and stored on ice for immediate use or stored at −20° C. Protein concentrations in the CFEs were determined using a modified method according to Bradford as described in the general part

Example 4 Racemic Resolution of (RS)-α-Methylbenzylamine

Cell-free extracts (CFEs) with heterologously in E. coli expressed transaminases XP_(—)001209325 and EDH25885 were tested for (R)-transaminase activity and compared with CFEs containing heterologously in E. coli expressed L-threonine aldolase (LTA_SAV, accession number Q82N15) from Streptomyces avelmitilis (as negative control), and (R)-transaminases ABN35871 (Sequence 2 from U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,592) and AAN21261 (Sequence 1 from EP987332) in the racemic resolution of (RS)-α-methylbenzylamine. In a total reaction volume of 0.25 ml 0.1 ml of the CFEs were mixed with 80 mM (RS)-α-methylbenzylamine (MBA), 40 mM sodium pyruvate in 100 mM KP_(i) buffer containing 0.1 mM PLP and incubated at 28° C. for 20 h. The reactions were stopped by addition of 0.9 ml stopping reagent (50% (v/v) acetonitrile in H₂O containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid) to 0.1 ml reaction volume and analysed by HPLC on a chiral phase as described in the general part. The results of the HPLC analysis are given in table 5.

TABLE 5 concentration and e.e. of α-MBA in transaminase reactions % e.e. Enzyme (S)-α-MBA (S)-α-MBA [g/l] (R)-α-MBA [g/l] ABN35871 63 0.5 0.1 AAN21261 22 0.5 0.3 EDH25885 10 0.5 0.4 XP_001209325 >99 0.5 <0.01 LTA_SAV <2 0.5 0.5

These results show that XP_(—)001209325 is a very efficient and selective (R)-transaminase, because it selectively converted all (R)-α-MBA but not (S)-α-MBA. Other (R)-transaminases like ABN35871 or AAN21261 were also selective, but at clearly lower productivities resulting in lower e.e. s in the racemic resolution of (RS)-α-MBA. EDH25885 also exhibited low (R)-selective transminase activity on (RS)-α-MBA.

Example 5 Synthesis of Enantiomerically Enriched (R)-Amines

In a final volume of 0.25 μl buffered with 100 mM potassium phosphate (KP_(i)) at pH 7.5 equimolar amounts of 70 mM of amino donor and 70 mM of ketone substrate were reacted in the presence of 0.1 ml CFE of a transaminase at 28° C. for 24 h. CFE comprising transaminases XP_(—)001209325, AAN21261 and ABN35871, respectively, was incubated with benzylacetone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 4-phenyl-2-butylamine and acetophenone; propiophenone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding α-ethylbenzylamine and acetophenone; 1-indanone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 1-aminoindan and acetophenone; 1-tetralone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 1-aminotetralin and acetophenone; 2-tetralone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 2-aminotetralin and acetophenone; butanone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 2-aminobutane and acetophenone; and 3,3-dimethyl-2-butanone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding 3,3-dimethyl-2-aminobutane and acetophenone, respectively. The reactions were stopped by addition of 0.75 ml stopping reagent (50% (v/v) acetonitrile in H₂O containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid) to 0.25 ml reaction volume. The product concentrations and enantiomeric excesses were analysed by HPLC as described in the general part. The results of the HPLC analysis are given in table 6.

TABLE 6 Amine product concentrations and e.e.s with transaminase XP_001209325 compared to transaminases AAN21261 and ABN35871. XP_001209325 AAN21261 ABN35871 amine e.e. amine e.e. amine e.e. (R)-amine product [mM] [%] [mM] [%] [mM] [%] 4-phenyl-2-butylamine 16.0 n.d. <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. 2-aminobutane 6.2 69 0.9 n.d. 6.9 −27 3,3-dimethyl-butylamine 0.7 50 0.3 n.d. 6.4 97 1-aminoindan <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. α-ethylbenzylamine 1.7 99 7.9 99 2.3 99 1-aminotetralin <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. <0.1 n.d. 2-aminotetralin 0.4 96 0.7 61 0.3 97 n.d.: not determined

Further CFE comprising transaminase YP_(—)955297 was incubated with propiophenone and α-methylbenzylamine yielding α-ethylbenzylamine and acetophenone. The reaction was stopped by addition of 0.75 ml stopping reagent (50% (v/v) acetonitrile in H₂O containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid) to 0.25 ml reaction volume. The product concentration and enantiomeric excess was analysed by HPLC as described in the general part. After 24 h incubation at 28° C. 0.87 mmol/l (R)-α-ethylbenzylamine was obtained with an e.e. of 99%.

The above results show transaminases XP_(—)001209325 and YP_(—)955297 are highly selective (R)-transaminases. Further it becomes clear that XP_(—)001209325 has a different substrate spectrum than the transaminases AAN21261 and ABN35871: 4-phenyl-2-butylamine was formed in significant concentrations by XP_(—)001209325 but not by transaminases AAN21261 and ABN35871 (table 6). Additionally XP_(—)001209325 produced enantiomerically enriched (R)-2-aminobutane from 2-butanone, while ABN35871 delivered enantiomerically enriched (S)-2-aminobutane (table 6).

Example 6 Selectivity of (R)-Transaminases on Chiral α-Methylbenzylamines

To examine the enantioselectivity of (R)-transaminases they were tested in the conversion of the pure enantiomers forms of α-methylbenzylamine (MBA). Cell-free extracts containing transaminses as prepared in EXAMPLE 3 were tested separately in their activity on (R)-MBA and (S)-MBA, respectively, with pyruvate as ketone substrate in a spectrophotometric assay in a Perkin Elmer Lambda35 UV/VIS spectrophotometer thermostated at 30° C. at a wavelength of 300 nm.

In a final reaction volume of 1 ml 50 μl of a suitable dilution of a CFE containing transaminase were mixed in disposable plastic UV or quartz cuvettes with 12.5 mM (R)- or (S)-MBA and 5 mM sodium pyruvate in the presence of 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP. The reactions were started by addition of 10 μl of 0.5 M sodium pyruvate (in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5, 0.1 mM PLP) to the other assay components, which had been pre-incubated in the photometer at 30° C. for 5 min. After addition of sodium pyruvate the absorption at 300 nm was recorded and the transaminase activity in the samples (CFEs) was calculated according to the law of Lambert-Beer with an molar extinction coefficient for acetophenone of ε=0.28 cm²/μmol. One unit (U) of transaminase activity is defined as 1 μmol of acetophenone formed from 12.5 mM (R)-MBA or (S)-MBA and 5 mM sodium pyruvate at 30° C. in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP per minute. The specific transaminase activities of the CFEs (U/mg total CFE protein) were calculated by dividing the volumetric activity values (U/ml CFE) by the total protein concentration as determined according to the general procedures. The ratio of specific transaminase activities on (R)- over (S)-MBA are defined as the Transaminase Enantioselectivity Value (TEV). An (R)-selective transaminase is defined as a transaminase with a TEV value of >1. A good (R)-selectivity is defined as a specific activity ratio on (R)- over (S)-MBA of TEV ≧5. A high (R)-selectivity is defined as a specific activity ratio on (R)- over (S)-MBA of TEV ≧10. The specific activities of the transaminases in the CFEs on (R)- and (S)-MBA and the TEVs as determined in these experiments are given in table 7.

TABLE 7 specific transaminase activities on (R)- and (S)-MBA and TEVs Activity (R)-MBA Activity (S)-MBA Transaminase [mU/mg] [mU/mg] TEV XP_001209325 559 38 15 XP_002564064 12 0.9 13 YP_761201 32 7.2 4 YP_955297 210 26 8 NP_085750 4.6 0.6 8 EBP64591 18 13 1.3 EDI73966 15 14 1.1 ABN35871 1111 20 56 AAN21261 578 39 15

As becomes clear from this experiment the transaminases XP_(—)001209325, XP_(—)002564064, YP_(—)761201, YP_(—)955297, NP_(—)085750, EBP64591, and ED173966 are (R)-selective transaminases as are transaminases ABN35871 and AAN21261. Transaminases YP_(—)955297 and NP_(—)085750 exhibited good (R)-selectivity with TEVs of above 5, while XP_(—)001209325 and XP_(—)002564064 and even showed high (R)-selectivity with TEVs of above 10.

Example 7 Re-Isolation of Microorganisms from Pooled Deposits

The re-isolation of the individual microorganisms from the pooled deposit is be achieved by plating of 1:1000, 1:10,000 and further dilutions of the pooled deposit on selective enrichment medium (SEM) agar plates containing one of the six (R)-amines as sole nitrogen source as described in the general part and EXAMPLE 1. By repeated re-streaking on the SEM agar plates containing the respective (R)-amine, on which they have been enriched originally, pure cultures are obtained. Repeated re-streaking on the respective (R)-amine containing selective enrichment medium is carried out until only colonies of uniform morphology are obtained. Subsequently 16S rRNA or D2-LSU rRNA sequencing is performed using the validated MicroSEQ® (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) system, to re-identify the individual microorganisms.

Example 8 Enzymatic Transamination of Phenoxyacetone

Cell-free extract with heterologously in E. coli expressed (R)-transaminase XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] (2 U/ml) as produced and assayed as in EXAMPLE 3 and EXAMPLE 6 was incubated with 0.1 M of ketone substrate phenoxyacetone and 0.5 M of the amino donor isopropylamine, (RS)-2-butylamine (effectively 0.25 M (R)-2-butylamine) and (RS)-α-methylbenzylamine (effectively 0.25 M (R)-MBA), respectively, in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP at 30° C. for 24 h. The amount of 1-phenoxy-2-propylamine formed was measured by HPLC analysis. The HPLC conditions were as follows:

50 μl of reaction mixture was added to 950 μl of a 50:50 mixture of acetonitrile/water with 0.01% (v/v) formic acid and centrifuged for 5 min at 13,000 rpm.

HPLC Conditions: Column: Purospher Star RP C18 (250×4.0, 5 μm)

Eluent A: 0.01% formic acid in water

Eluent B: Acetonitrile

Flow: 0.8 ml/min Column temperature: 30° C. Injection volume: 4 μl

Detection: UV 210 nm (or 254 nm)

The results of these experiments are given in table 8.

TABLE 8 Conversion of phenoxyacetone to 1-phenoxy-2-propylamine catalysed by the (R)-transaminase XP_001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] Conversion ketone 1-Phenoxy-2-propylamine Donor [%] [mol/l] [wt %] 2-butylamine 64 0.064 1.0 MBA 32 0.032 0.5 isopropylamine 31 0.031 0.5

2-butylamine and MBA are effectively better amino donors than isopropylamine for the (R)-selective transaminase XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] as the actual concentration of (R)-2-butylamine and (R)-MBA are 0.25 M compared to 0.5 M of the achiral amino donor isopropylamine. Thus comparable or even better conversions are obtained with the amino donors 2-butylamine and MBA, respectively, at relatively lower amino donor concentrations compared to the amino donor isopropylamine. Even high product concentrations of 1.0 wt % were obtained (with 2-butylamine as amino donor).

Example 9 Transamination of Benzylacetone in the Presence of a Second Organic Solvent Phase

Cell-free extract with heterologously in E. coli expressed (R)-transaminase XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] (2 U/ml) as produced and assayed as in EXAMPLE 3 and EXAMPLE 6 was incubated with 0.1 M of ketone substrate benzylacetone and 0.25 M of the amino donor (RS)-α-methylbenzylamine in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.5 mM PLP at 30° C. for 24 h. The reactions were carried out in the presence and absence of 15% (v/v) of the non water-miscible organic solvent cyclohexane. The amount of 4-phenyl-2-propylamine formed and the enantiomeric excess (e.e.) of the reactions were measured by HPLC analysis as described in EXAMPLE 8. The determination of enantiomeric excesses was performed by HPLC analysis on a chiral stationary phase as follows:

20 μl of the reaction mixture was mixed with 50 μl of Marfey's reagent solution (1% w/v N-α-[2,4-dinitrophenyl-5-fluorophenyl]-L-alanine amide in acetone) and 10 μl saturated solution of NaHCO₃. After incubation of the mixture at 40° C. for 1 hour 10 μl 2 N HCl and 920 μl acetonitrile were added and the sample was centrifuged for 5 min prior to injection.

HPLC Conditions: Column: Purospher Star RP C18 (250×4.0, 5 μm)

Eluent A: 0.01% formic acid in water

Eluent B: Acetonitrile

Flow: 1 ml/min Column temperature: 30° C. Injection volume: 2 μl

Detection: UV 338.1 nm

Isocratic 50/50 eluent A/eluent B

The results of these experiments are given in table 9.

TABLE 9 Conversion and e.e. of (R)-4-phenyl-2-propylamine formed by XP_001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] from benzylacetone in the presence and absence of the non water-miscible organic solvent cyclohexane Conversion to 4-phenyl- e.e. (R)-4-phenyl-2- Condition 2-propylamine [%] propylamine [%] no organic solvent 32 >99.9 15% (v/v) cyclohexane 22 >99.9

These results show that the (R)-selective transaminase XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] well tolerates the presence of the non water-miscible organic solvent cyclohexane and that its presence does not affect the enantioselectivity of the enzyme reaction.

Example 10 Recombinant (R)-Transaminases from Genomes of the Enriched Microorganisms

From the six strains, which were enriched on selective media for their (R)-selective transaminase activity (EXAMPLE 1 and 2), Rahnella aquatilis 3 Kb, Microbacterium ginsengisoli 1A1 DSM 23784, Sinorhizobium morelense 3H1 DSM 23794, Curtobacterium pusillum 5BaB DSM 23787, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense 1Ia DSM 23798, and Achromobacter spanius 6I DSM 23791 genomic DNA was isolated with the Easy-DNA kit (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's manual and finally eluted with TE buffer. The quality of the DNA was checked photometrically as well as by digest with Bsp143I or BamHI (Fermentas, St. Leon-Rot) followed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The thus isolated genomic DNA samples from Rahnella aquatilis 3 Kb, Microbacterium ginsengisoli 1A1 DSM 23784, Curtobacterium pusillum 5BaB DSM 23787, Achromobacter spanius 61 DSM 23791, and Microbacterium ginsengisoli 1A1 DSM 23784 were use for genome sequencing.

These genomic sequences were uploaded to a server and BLAST searches were conducted against the known (R)-transaminase sequences SEQ ID No. 1 and against hits found in one of the genomes. Several hits with different degree of similarity were identified and chosen for subsequent NdeI/HindIII cloning into pMS470Δ8 (Balzer et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 1992, 20 (8): 1851-1858) and expression in E. coli. Three of the genes could not be amplified by PCR and one contained NdeI and HindIII in the native sequence and thus Asp-TA1, Cpu-TA1, Cpu-TA3 Raq-TA2 and Mgi-TA1 were ordered codon optimised for the expression in E. coli from Geneart/life technologies (Regensburg, Germany).

TABLE 10 BLAST search identity to the (R)-transaminase of SEQ ID No. 1 Sequence identity SEQ ID to SEQ protein Source organism No. ID No. 1 Cpu-TA1 Curtobacterium pusillum 5BaB DSM 23787 30 26% Cpu-TA2 Curtobacterium pusillum 5BaB DSM 23787 33 32% Cpu-TA3 Curtobacterium pusillum 5BaB DSM 23787 35 27% Raq-TA2 Rahnella aquatilis 3Kb 38 27% Raq-TA3 Rahnella aquatilis 3Kb 40 22% Asp-TA1 Achromobacter spanius 61 DSM 23791 43 27% Mgi-TA1 Microbacterium ginsengisoli 1A1 DSM 46 24% 23784

The 6 target genes were expressed in E. coli TOP10F′ in LB medium supplemented with Ampicillin (100 μg/ml) after induction with 0.5 mM IPTG at 25° C. o/n. As a control served an E. coli TOP10F′ culture containing a pMS470 vector without an inserted transaminase gene. The cells were harvested and lysed by sonication in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP and centrifuged. The lysates were concentrated using VivaSpin concentrators (Sartorius, Vienna, Austria). The protein concentrations of the lysates were determined by Bradford protein assay.

All lysates were tested in transamination reactions using the corresponding bulky amines on which the donor microorganism had been enriched on as a donor and pyruvate as an acceptor. Five times excess of a racemic or enantiopure amine (50 mM) was used over pyruvic acid (10 mM) in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP at 30° C. for 24 h. In the reactions with Mgi-TA1 10 mM of pyruvic acid and 10 mM of amino donor MBA or 1-aminotetralin, respectively, were applied in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP at 30° C. for 19 h. The formation of corresponding ketone was detected on HPLC as described in EXAMPLES 8 and 9. The selectivity of new transaminases was determined by formation of L- or D-alanine and the reactivity of different enantiomers of the respective amines. The new transaminases Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43], and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] showed (R)-selectivity (table 11). Cpu-TA2 was also tested with MBA and alanine as amino donors and phenoxyacetone and acetophenone as acceptor ketones, respectively. The amine products of these two reactions were enantiomerically enriched (R)-1-phenoxy-2-propylamine and (R)-MBA, respectively (table 11).

These results show that the new transaminases Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] are indeed (R)-selective transaminases.

TABLE 11 Transamination reactions catalyzed by new transaminases and their selectivities. Acceptor Conversion Selectivity Enzyme Amino donor ketone ketone [%] Product product Asp-TA1 MBA Pyruvate 1.5 alanine (R) (=D) Cpu-TA1 1-aminoindan Pyruvate 89.0 alanine (R) (=D) (R)-1-aminoindan Pyruvate 96.7 alanine (R) (=D) Cpu-TA2 1-aminoindan Pyruvate 15.4 alanine (R) (=D) MBA Phenoxyacetone 1.1 1-phenoxy-2-propylamine (R) alanine Acetophenone 1.3 MBA (R) Cpu-TA3 1-aminoindan Pyruvate 26.6 alanine (R) (=D) (R)-1-aminoindan Pyruvate 17.4 alanine (R) (=D) Raq-TA2 1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 19.2 alanine (R) (=D) (R)-1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 17.9 alanine (R) (=D) Raq-TA3 1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 17.0 alanine (R) (=D) (R)-1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 62.5 alanine (R) (=D) (S)-1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 6.5 alanine (R) (=D) Mgi-TA1 MBA Pyruvate 21.0 alanine (R) (=D) 1-aminotetralin Pyruvate 34.0 alanine (R) (=D) pMS vector w/o MBA Pyruvate 0.6 transaminase insert (-control)

Example 11 Synthesis of 4-Phenyl-2-Propylamine from Benzylacetone and (R)-α-Methylbenzylamine in the Presence of Non Water-Miscible Organic Solvent

Cell-free extract with heterologously in E. coli expressed (R)-transaminase XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1] as produced and assayed as in EXAMPLE 3 and EXAMPLE 6 was incubated with 0.08 M of the amino donor (R)-α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) and a 1.5 fold excess of the ketone substrate benzylacetone (0.12 M) in 50 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP at 28° C. for 20 h. The reactions were carried out in the presence and absence of 10% (v/v) of the non water-miscible organic solvent cyclohexane. The amount of 4-phenyl-2-propylamine formed was measured by HPLC analysis as described in the general part.

Without addition of cyclohexanone 42.8 mM 4-phenyl-2-propylamine was formed, while with 10% (v/v) cyclohexanone an even higher concentration of 44.3 mM 4-phenyl-2-propylamine was formed from benzylacetone with (R)-MBA as amino donor.

Example 12 Enzymatic Synthesis of (R)-Sec-Butylamine from (R)-α-Methylbenzylamine

The transaminases XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1], XP_(—)002564064 [SEQ ID No. 3], EEU44019 [SEQ ID No. 5], XP_(—)001402221 [SEQ ID No. 7], YP_(—)761201 [SEQ ID No. 9], YP_(—)838940 [SEQ ID No. 11], YP_(—)955297 [SEQ ID No. 13], ED173966 [SEQ ID No. 15], NP_(—)085750 [SEQ ID No. 17], EDH25885 [SEQ ID No. 19], EBP64591 [SEQ ID No. 21], and ECU93014 [SEQ ID No. 23] as well as ABN35871 and AAN21261 were produced as described in EXAMPLE 3. Cell-free extracts containing the heterologously expressed transaminases were reacted with 25 mM butanone and 50 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine at 28° C. with shaking at 400 rpm for 24 h in 100 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP in a total volume of 1 ml. After 20 h the reactions were quenched by addition of a 100 μl sample of each reaction to 50 μl of 2-hexanone solution and 850 μl acetonitrile and centrifugation for 10 min at 3000×g. The samples were analysed by GC-FID detection on a CpSil 8 for amines column (30 m×0.25×0.5) using commercial MBA, acetophenone, butanone and sec-butylamine as references (Sigma-Aldrich). The results are summarized in table 12.

TABLE 12 Concentration of sec-butylamine in mM formed from (R)-MBA and butanone after 24 h using the respective transaminases Transaminase sec-Butylamine [mM] ABN35871 0.99 AAN21261 7.96 YP_955297 1.52 YP_838940 0.45 XP_001209325 15.74 EBP64591 0.06 EDI73966 0.42 XP_002564064 b 0.63 YP_761201 0.42 EEU44019 b 0.23 XP_001402221 0.71 NP_085750 b 0.08

Example 13 Enzymatic Synthesis of (R)-3,3-Dimethyl-2-Butylamine from (R)-MBA and 3,3-Dimethyl-Butanone

Cell-free extracts containing the heterologously expressed transaminases XP_(—)001209325 [SEQ ID No. 1], YP_(—)955297 [SEQ ID No. 13], ABN35871 and AAN21261 produced as described in EXAMPLE 3 were reacted with 25 mM 3,3-dimethyl-butanone and 50 mM (R)-α-methylbenzylamine at 28° C. with shaking at 400 rpm for 24 h in 100 mM KP_(i) buffer pH 7.5 containing 0.1 mM PLP in a total volume of 1 ml. After 20 h the reactions were quenched by addition of a 100 μl sample of each reaction to 50 μl of 2-hexanone solution and 850 μl acetonitrile and centrifugation for 10 min at 3000×g. The samples were analysed by GC-FID detection on a CpSil 8 for amines column (30 m×0.25×0.5) using commercial MBA, acetophenone, butanone and sec-butylamine as references (Sigma-Aldrich). The results are summarized in table 13.

TABLE 13 Concentration of sec-butylamine in mM formed from (R)-MBA and 3,3- dimethyl-butanone after 24 h using the respective transaminases Transaminase 3,3-dimethyl-2-butylamine [mM] ABN35871 0.00 AAN21261 3.28 YP_955297 0.34 XP_001209325 1.49 

1. A method for the enzymatic synthesis of an enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine of general formula [1][c]

from the corresponding ketone of the general formula

and a suitable amino donor, wherein R₁ and R₂ are different and are independently linear or branched aliphatic, aromatic, hetero-aromatic or form a cyclic structure, by using a transaminase selected from the group consisting of a. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1; b. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 3; c. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 5; d. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 7; e. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 9; f. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 11; g. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 13; h. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 15; i. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 17; j. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 19; k. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 21; l. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 23; m. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 25; n. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 30; o. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 33; p. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 35; q. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 38; r. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 40; s. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 43; t. a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 46 and u. a protein having transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Ochrobactrum tritici, Sinorhizobium morelense, Curtobacterium pusilllum, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum, Pseudomonas citronellolis, Yersinia kristensenii, Achromobacter spanius, Achromobacter insolitus, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense, Mycobacterium sacrum, Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans, Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica, Cosmospora episphaeria, and Fusarium oxysporum.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein R₁ and R₂ are different and R₁ and R₂ independently contain 1 to 30 carbon atoms and R₁ and R₂ are independently substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted branched aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted cyclic aliphatic; substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic aliphatic, containing at least one oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen atom; substituted or unsubstituted aromatic; substituted or unsubstituted hetero-aromatic containing at least one sulfur or nitrogen atom; or together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic structure or heterocyclic structure, containing at least one oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen atom; wherein the substituents are selected from but not limited to the group consisting of a halogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, hydroxyl group, methoxy group, monofluoromethyl, difluoromethyl and trifluoromethyl group.
 3. A process according to claim 1, characterized in that the final concentration of the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine product lies between 1 and 50 weight % of the reaction mixture.
 4. A process according to claim 3, wherein the transaminase is a protein having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No.
 1. 5. A process according to claim 4, wherein the amino donor is α-methylbenzylamine.
 6. A process according to claim 4, wherein the amino donor is sec-butylamine.
 7. A process according to claim 1, characterized in that the final concentration of the enantiomerically enriched (R)-amine product lies between 5 and 35 weight % of the reaction mixture.
 8. A process according to claim 1, wherein the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase.
 9. A process according to claim 1, wherein the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 100 and 0.01.
 10. A process according to claim 1, wherein the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 20 and 0.1.
 11. A process according to claim 1, wherein the reaction mixture comprises an aqueous phase and second organic phase and the volumetric ratio of water:organic phase is between 20 and
 1. 12. A microorganism comprising an enzyme having (R)-transaminase activity from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).
 13. A microorganism according to claim 12, wherein the enzyme having (R)-transaminase activity is selected from the group consisting of Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] or a protein having at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% identity to any of these amino acid sequences.
 14. A polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).
 15. A polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% sequence identity to a polypeptide having (R)-transaminase activity and obtainable from an organism selected from the group of organisms consisting of Rahnella aquatilis (deposited as DSM 23797), Ochrobactrum anthropi (deposited as DSM 23793), Ochrobactrum tritici (deposited as DSM 23786), Sinorhizobium morelense (deposited as DSM 23794), Curtobacterium pusilllum (deposited as DSM 23787), Paecilomyces lilacinus (deposited as DSM 23771), Microbacterium ginsengisoli, Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum (deposited as DSM 23788), Pseudomonas citronellolis (deposited as DSM 23795), Yersinia kristensenii (deposited as DSM 23792), Achromobacter spanius (deposited as DSM 23791), Achromobacter insolitus (deposited as DSM 23790), Mycobacterium fortuitum (deposited as DSM 23789), Mycobacterium frederiksbergense (deposited as DSM 23798), Mycobacterium sacrum (deposited as DSM 23785), Mycobacterium fluoranthenivorans (deposited as DSM 23796), Burkholderia sp., Burkholderia tropica (deposited as DSM 23799), Cosmospora episphaeria (deposited as DSM 23772), and Fusarium oxysporum (deposited as DSM 23770).
 16. A polypeptide according to claim 14 having (R)-transaminase activity selected from the group consisting of Cpu-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 30], Cpu-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 33], Cpu-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 35], Raq-TA2 [SEQ ID No. 38], Raq-TA3 [SEQ ID No. 40], Asp-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 43] and Mgi-TA1 [SEQ ID No. 46] or a protein having at least 90%, preferably at least 91%, preferably at least 92%, preferably at least 93%, preferably at least 94%, preferably at least 95%, preferably at least 96%, preferably at least 97%, preferably at least 98%, preferably at least 99% identity to any of these amino acid sequences.
 17. A nucleic acid encoding for a polypeptide according to claim
 14. 